Fishing with God

[ChuckB]

I am a Christian and recently had my vision of fishing changed by God. I have fished most of my life and whenever I fished, I left the water frustrated. You see, my purpose in fishing has always been skewed. But, I never realized this until recently. I was always out to catch the big bass to put on the wall. That was my only goal. However, it literally never worked out. I always went home empty handed. Many weekend trips with my Dad ended with the same results; him with fish and me angry. On one occasion, I went fishing with a friend whom I knew had routinely caught numerous large bass. I copied his every move, used the same tackle and fished the same area. However, as he caught fish after fish I still caught nothing.

Later as an adult, I even tried going on a paid striper trip with a guide. I was certain that this approach would guarantee me a "big" fish to put on the wall. Even that didn't work out. The weather was terrible and I only managed a few small stripers. At one point I sold or gave away every piece of fishing equipment I owned. I eventually started fishing again and re-stocked my fishing equipment. However, I still wasn't catching fish. Things changed last year though.

Around the end of the football season, I took my family to see a popular Christian film titled "Facing the Giants". You may have seen it. It was about a high school football coach who was experience a surge of problems both at home and on the football field. He finally spent some time alone with God and prayed about his situation. A few days later he presented his team with a new team philosophy "If we win, we praise him. If we lose we praise him". What he told his team is what we all as Christians should be doing every day. We are to praise God for all things in our life no matter how stressful or challenging. I went fishing a short time after that and while once again getting frustrated at the lake I was thinking about the movie we had enjoyed. Then it hit me. We are to do ALL things in Christ and I wasn't fishing for him. I was fishing for the wall trophy.

I instantly changed my outlook on angling. That day I caught a small bass, not even a pound. As I was taking it off the hook I said out loud "thank you Lord". He is always with me when I fish. I started praying before my fishing trips and asking God to keep my partner and I safe. I ask him to help me do my best whether I caught anything or not.

I recently fished in the annual Air National Guard Bass Tournament in Tennessee. On day one, my partner and I were two hours into the day and had not landed a single fish. Then it occurred to me that I had not spent any time with the Lord that morning. I sat down to change a lure and prayed to God. I asked for his blessing on our safety and asked him to help me do my best no matter what the outcome was. Not long after that, I landed a nice 2.5 pounder to put us on the board. I thanked the Lord again. We had a great day that day, coming in just outside the top 20. More importantly, we had a safe day on the water and had fun. I was thankful for that.

Whenever, I get side tracked and don't fish for the glory of the Lord, I don't catch anything. This is like life itself. If we don't focus on God, we are not going to catch anything

[kistlero]

Amen to that story.

I can say that I too have gone through dry spells of not noticing the many blessings around me and being ungrateful for all I had received from the Lord already.

Our Father in heaven wants to bless us with bigger fish or grant our prayers, but He expects a little gratitude along the way. Just as our parents enjoy giving us new toys when we are grateful, so our heavenly Father enjoys giving us big catches.

Let's all go enjoy the great outdoors that God created and if we catch a nice bass or non at all, let's praise Him for the opportunity to experience His awesome creation.

I pray that each of us would go out into our world and share the love Jesus showed to us. Take someone fishing that has never had the opportunity to really see God's most amazing creatures.

Have fun while you're out there too....He made it for you.

[Upside]

Well, you two are above me on the religious "ladder". Being out in nature, whether it's fishing or hiking there is a closeness and spirituality that doesn't exist in my day to day life. When I actually have the time to look around at the wonders that surround us, it's hard not to imagine a divine plan. It's something I wish I could carry into my day to day life but sadly, I tend to get too wrapped up in business and personal issues. I can sit in my backyard on a weekend in absolute astonishment at the beauty that surrounds us and feel in touch with our Creator but when the work week rolls around, those feelings are put aside while day to day worries assume the forefront and consume me. Wish it was different but at least for now, that's the way it is.